New York State Energy Research and Development Authority

New York is the third most populated state in the USA. 19 million people live in the large East-American state - many potential customers for the NYSERDA Solar Water Heating Program that launched in December 2010. Residential and commercial clients can apply for a performance-based incentive if they replace an existing electric water heater with a solar water heater. While the majority of the program incentive funding targets electric hot water systems, the programme also has a small amount of funding available for projects that use fossil fuels to heat domestic hot water. NYSERDA has 50 approved eligible installers in the program. To help customers quickly find an eligible installer, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) published an interactive online map (such as the one above) where the contractors are listed according to the counties where they are active.
Source: NYSERDA

The first financing measure in the framework of New York's Solar Thermal Roadmap is about to be implemented: Very soon, solar thermal technology will be the next technology to profit from the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), which were introduced in the State of New York in 2005. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is responsible for administering the RPS funds, which are collected via the electricity bills of individual clients – residential and commercial ones – in the service areas of investor-owned utilities. A total of USD 25.8 million was allocated to subsidise solar thermal installations replacing electric water heaters. Combi systems are also eligible for the incentive scheme if the rooms in question were previously heated with electricity.

The New York Solar Thermal Roadmap is ready for implementation: 130 stakeholders teamed up to form The Solar Energy Consortium (TSEC), which was to develop a state-wide solar vision and an action plan to realize it. The consortium's objectives are ambitious: The installed solar thermal capacity is to increase from today's total of 8 MW (11,400 m²) to 2 GW (28.6 million m²) by 2020. This corresponds to an annual growth rate of 57%.

This notice was written by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) in 2007. The purpose of this document was to invite proposals to evaluate solar thermal technologies for residential and nonresidential buildings. Proposed projects should be innovative and seek to provide performance and economics data for these technologies, and it the projects are divided into three categories: Monitored Demonstrations, Solar Domestic Hot Water Technologies Assessment, and Technology Feasibility Study.

The 38 Abengoa parabolic trough collectors on the roof of the piano maker Steinway & Sons in Island City, New York, will produce steam at 200 °C from spring on.
Photo: Steinway